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Students' visit to Nicaragua was `more than they expected' By Katie Yamamoto Grade 11, Abbey Park H.S. 25 · Friday, April 13, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com N ica-where? That was a common response when I told people my plans for March Break. My fellow travellers -- Philip Sheppard, David LaRue, Stephanie and Christina Hauser, Leah and Nicole Roth, Twoey Gray, Max Ramsay, Cathy Winn, Judith Caldwell, Janet and Jack Nield -- and I, had all decided to spend our spring break doing volunteer work in a community in the country of Nicaragua, Central America. We jumped between airports for more than 18 hours, finally touching down at Augusto C. Sandino International Airport in Managua, Nicaragua well after midnight. Waking up in a foreign country, I don't think any of us were prepared for the slew of new experiences we would gain over the next week. From Compañeros, the company that organized our trip and experience, we learned to reflect on our time spent in Nicaragua using the four G's model: Grab, Give, Get, and Go. The first `G' I experienced was `Grab'. I was amazed at the ability of the people we encountered to draw us in with their enthusiasm and kindness. The beauty of the people, both in body and spirit, really `grabbed' all of us, but so did their country, with its majestic lakes and volcanoes. Our host families were more than gracious, providing us with anything we ever needed, including feeding us some of the most delicious food I've ever tasted. The six girls in our group stayed with a lovely woman named Doña Bertha, who despite having spoken almost no English, never lost an opportunity to connect with us, even if it meant using wild hand gestures. By the end of the trip, she had become a surrogate grandmother to all of us. We also had opportunities to travel to two schools and a church that have partnerships with churches in Canada. I found we could `give' back as much as we received, whether it was through donations of school supplies, our endeavours to learn (and perform) songs in Spanish, a sturdy new house for a family, or a security wall for a school. In return, we `got' much more than we expected, and these unexpected presents came in many different forms. We made many new friends, both Canadian and Nicaraguan, with whom we shared jokes that will probably never get old. As we returned each day to our volunteer worksites, we would be greeted by children who wanted to play games, help out, or simply talk to us. A favourite topic was definitely snow, as the thirty-odd degree weather doesn't allow for anything other than rainfall. Many of us had special bonds with the kids, and I think leaving them was the saddest part of our trip. We also received an enormous amount of gratitude and joy for what we have here in Canada. I will always be able to truly appreciate what it means to live `comfortably' because I have seen what it's like at the other end of the spectrum. I hope to `go' forth from this experience, and help others in any way that I can. If that means going back to Nicaragua next year, well... anything is possible. If you are a teacher or student interested in participating in an upcoming Kids Speak Out - School News column featured in the Beaver, please e-mail Tom Dykes at dykes@ cogeco.ca.